It's An Austrian Thing
by Mikmo-Eonic
Summary: There's a strange new boy in Forget Me Not Valley, and Lumina is intent on befriending him. Rated for mild themes, a language, etc. Expect the title to change later.


**DISCLAIMER AND STUFF:  
><strong>

Yay! First Harvest Moon fic. Be gentle! I don't own Harvest Moon or any of the characters. Kodi is my own creation...muahaha! I adjusted ages and stuff to fit the story, and all character outfits are the same as in the game unless stated otherwise. 

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><p>Lumina happily skipped down the path leading from her grandma's villa to the main part of Forget-Me-Not Valley, feeling oh so happy this fine morning.. She'd just celebrated her 18th birthday the other night, and mentally, she felt like a new girl - or woman. She was just so happy! So happy, in fact, that she felt like paying Muffy at the Blue Bar. Skipping along, she burst into the bar.<br>"Why, look at you!" Muffy exclaimed, "Aren't you just all sunshine and lollipops, up so early?"  
>"Yeah." Lumina agreed, looking around. The bar was empty, save for them. "So, what's up?"<br>"Oh, not much." Muffy replied, "I was thinking about going into town to buy a new dress. Magenta is the new red. You should come with me, seeing how I didn't get you a present last night."  
>"Eh, no. That's okay. Anything else happening?"<br>"Hm..."  
>Muffy tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment before answering.<br>"Oh, yeah! There's some weird guy hanging around down by the windmills. All big shot, a city slicker if you ask me. Marlin came in here not to long ago to deliver fruit for the juice, talking about him."  
>"What's his name?" Lumina asked.<br>"No idea. All I know is that he was just standing there, with a camera."  
>"A camera?"<br>"Yup. Accordin' to Marlin, a fancy digital thing. Top'a'the line."  
>"Hm..."<br>This interested Lumina. She was so awfully isolated from technology out here in the valley. Maybe this guy could get her up to speed on the latest news and such?  
>"I know!" Muffy said in a momentary epiphany, "Let's go see what he's doing."<br>"Really? Um...sure."  
>"Great!"<p>

Lumina and Muffy set out for the short walk over to the windmills, just on the other side Vesta's farm, on the far side of the valley from Lumina's grandmother's villa. They reached the windmills after a few minutes of walking, and found a small crowd gathered.  
>"What's going on ya'll?" Muffy asked, shoving herself between two people - the two pyrotechnic twins. Lumina had never bothered to learn their names, but she was fairly certain one was named 'Pat'.<br>"This kids been standing here for hours. No one knows when he got here..." one said, "all anyone knows is that he's just...standin' there. With a camera. Watchin' the mills."  
>Lumina cleared her throat, and Grant - an accountant that worked in the city, and his daughter Kate, parted for her. She walked forward, and saw him.<br>He was a strange sight in the Valley, that was for sure. He wore a thick, dark green casual jacket with a tall collar that was flipped down, black cargo pants, black cotton gloves, boots of some sort, and white mirror sunglasses, with black headphones dangling around his neck. He had dark blonde hair as well, and there were a pair a binoculars strapped to his pants.  
>He was indeed, just standing there, with a large, high-end camera in hand. Lumina, unsure if the guy was even safe, was brave. She walked forward a few more feet, and said,<br>"Uh...hi."  
>The boy didn't respond. Lumina took the time to notice how the sun had yet to fully reach this side of the valley. Just as the sun was peaking over the mountains, the boy quickly raised his camera and took several photos, all extremely fast, with no flash. He reviewed the shots he'd just taken on his camera's screen, and smiled. Then, he quickly twirled in a circle, slinging his camera around his neck by the strap, then extending his hand the Lumina, all in one fluid motion.<br>"Kodi Justin Vitzhum-McPhee, pleased to meet you!" he exclaimed in a voice that seemed just a tad to high pitched for his appearance.  
>"Uh, hi. I'm Lumina. Lumina Whiting." Lumina replied, shaking his hand awkwardly. "Say...what were you just...doing...?"<br>"Waiting for the perfect shot. I was walking into the Valley - just came into Mineral Town last night, ya know - and saw these wind turbines."  
>He gestured to them in a great big motion.<br>"I said to myself, 'Holy crap, this would look awesome in the right light.' . So, I decided to stay and wait for that right light. And what'd'ya know, dawn is just perfect!"  
>Lumina was stunned. <em>Turbine<em>? No one in the Valley used that word. Never! This guy really must be from the city, because even the people from Mineral Town didn't use that word.  
>"So...you were here...all night? Just standing here? Watching the...eh...turbines?"<br>"Yeah." Kodi answered duly, fiddling with his camera. "Well..I should get going."  
>He stretched his limbs, then twirled in a circle, and dashed up towards the mountain pass to Mineral Town, "SEE YA' TOMORRROOOOOW!" he yelled back, his fingers making the piece sign high in the air as he ran.<p>

Unfortunately, in his dash, he failed to see the scarlet-haired monster twenty feet in front of him.  
><em>BOOF! <em>  
>"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" came Nami's angry shout.<br>She shoved Kodi aside, and crossed her arms, absolutely fuming.  
>"Um...running." he answered nonchalantly.<br>A big smile swept over his face, and he raised his camera, snapping several photos of Nami, before she shoved him to the ground, tugged his camera off his neck, and chucked it ten feet. It clattered to the ground, visibly unharmed. Kodi took a small dark blue digital camera a cheap one) out of his pocket and snapped another photo, still on the ground., with the flash on. Nami was blinded for a moment, and Kodi ran over to his expensive camera.  
>Nami's vision cleared, and she saw the strange newcomer (newer than her at least) kneeling on the ground before his camera, sobbing.<br>"My baaabyyy!" he cried out, grabbing it.  
>He jumped up and twirled around the pole of one of the windmills, launching himself at Nami, who quickly dodged, and shoved him towards the crowd.<br>"Dumkopff!" he exclaimed, inspecting his camera more closely and polishing the lens with his sleeve.  
>"Who is this guy?" Nami demanded, still fuming.<br>"Um..." Muffy said, "Kodi Justin Vissum-McPhee."  
>"Vitzhum!" Kodi corrected, "It's Vitzhum. It's Austrian."<br>"McPhee is Australian or something...isn't it?" 'Pat' asked.  
>"My mom is a fashion designer in Vienna, and my dad is a businessman in Sydney."<br>"So...you're an Australian Austrian?" Muffy asked, befuddled.  
>"More or less. I prefer Austrian Australian, because I like Austria more. Or just call me Austrian."<br>"But...you don't have any kind of accent." Lumina said.  
>"That's cause otherwise people don't take me seriously." was Kodi's as-a-matter-of-factly reply.<br>"Oh...um...so...why are you here again?" Lumina asked.  
>"A friend of mine - Van, you might've heard of him,"<br>"All too well..." Nami muttered bitterly.  
>"anywho, Van told me this place had some pretty nice scenery..."<br>Though no one could see his eyes, Muffy, Nami, and Lumina could all feel his gaze on them in turn.  
>"The landscape ain't half bad either!"<br>He chuckled, and Lumina flushed a little. Nami was just getting angrier.  
>"So...still, why are you here, suge?" Muffy asked.<br>"I'm a freelance photojournalist slash paparazzi slash investigative journalist slash photographer."  
>"And you're here...?"<br>"To get the money shot! I need some interesting pics. Or at least get some nice landscape shots for a nature magazine or something."  
>"If you want exciting, you're in the wrong place." Nami scoffed.<br>"I never said exciting." Kodi replied smugly, "I said interesting. And I got my eyes on you ladies at the moment."  
>"How old are you?" Nami asked, her fuming reaching it's maximum.<br>"Gonna be eighteen in a couple of weeks. Now, for real this time..."  
>He deposited his cheap camera back in his pocket, slung his expensive camera around his neck, and took off running up the pass again, practically screaming, "SEE YOU TOMORROOOOOW!"<p> 


End file.
